


Warriors Two Worlds #1: A Different Life

by Muttyawn



Series: Warriors Two Worlds [1]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Gen, Kittypets (Warriors), Multi, Original Clans (Warriors), RiverClan (Warriors), ShadowClan (Warriors), SkyClan (Warriors), StarClan (Warriors), ThunderClan (Warriors), Tribe of Rushing Water (Warriors), WindClan (Warriors)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 23:42:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17887370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muttyawn/pseuds/Muttyawn
Summary: We're all familiar of the stories of the canon clans: ThunderClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan, and WindClan. But (what seems like) a lifetime away, there are even more clans: RoseClan, PrairieClan, and CaveClan; a diverse group of cats that understand the Warrior Code a little differently than our old friends at the Lake Territories. And even farther away still, lives a confused barn cat named Mutt who desperately wants to leave the only place she's ever called home and travel beyond the sunrise to find a place where she can live the fast-paced, dangerous, rough-and-tumble life a rogue told her about in passing one day. This first book follows the first leg of her journey, with her old friend Masquerade aka "Mask," as they set off into the unknown.





	1. Character List & Descriptions

**Author's Note:**

> Acknowledgements:  
> Before you get mad at me: I know that I tagged this as "original clans," and then used all of the canon clans' tags, but I just wanted to widen my audience. This book has no bearing on the canon books and takes place in a different time and place. 
> 
> It should also be noted that I am white/a non-POC person, and parts of this story involve the Indigenous Tribes surrounding Devil's Tower, a religious monument to Indigenous Americans in the state of Wyoming in America. If you are an Indigenous American and have any issue with anything I've written, or don't think it's accurate/accurately portrays Indigenous people, please don't hesitate to comment on this story or message me on Tumblr @Muttyawn. I would be happy to address any concerns you may have with what I have written, and I will gladly change the story to make it the most accurate I possibly can, and depict Indigenous Americans in the best light that I can.
> 
> And I would like to apologize for the cheesy description of this first chapter/the whole first book, because I didn't have a summary written prior to posting here and I just came up with one off the top of my head. It's probably going to change in the future, when I know what the entire story of the first book is like.
> 
> I also have no clue how long this first book is going to be, because I only have an outline of events that are going to happen and a couple of chapters written.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my take on what I think the Warriors universe should be like! Feel free to comment below, send me asks on my blog @Muttyawn on Tumblr (http://www.muttyawn.tumblr.com), and share this story with other Warriors fans!

_This page is subject to being updated, as soon as I find my other notebook with the more accurate descriptions and clan-specific information in it!_

**Official Character List & Descriptions **

 

**Loners, Rogues, Kittypets, and Barn Cats**

Mutt - (f; barn cat) longhair, lilac calico, bob-tail

Masquerade - (m; barn cat) short-hair, black tuxedo

Cow - (f; barn cat) short-hair, red tabby w/ white spotting

 

**CaveClan**

Larkbeak/Larkstar - (f; leader equivalent) longhair; mitted seal color-point Ragdoll 

Quailthroat - (m; deputy equivalent) NO DESCRIPTION YET

Whitesmoke - (m; senior warrior equivalent) NO DESCRIPTION YET

Dustspots - (m; warrior equivalent) NO DESCRIPTION YET

Shadestep - (m; warrior equivalent) NO DESCRIPTION YET

Hazelstripe - (f; warrior equivalent) NO DESCRIPTION YET

Peachnose - (f; warrior equivalent) short-hair, cream tabby w/ white (50%+)

Thistlepaw - (m; apprentice equivalent) short-hair, dusty brown mackerel tabby w/ white

Kestrelpaw - (f; apprentice equivalent) short-hair, NO DESCRIPTION YET


	2. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Acknowledgements:  
> This chapter is subject to editing, again when I find that stupid lost notebook. So check back when I update this work again!

 

   Soft snowflakes flitted down from the cloudy evening sky. Tall drifts of snow covered the landscape, and not a single sign of plant-life poked up from beneath the thick blanket of white. A steady, whistling breeze chilled the bare trees as it swept through the valley, carrying swirls of glittering snow in its wake. Against the dusk-darkened world, a pair of ragged tom-cats stalked heavily between the brambles and thickets. They were travelling slowly and meticulously, having to pay attention to every single paw-step so as not to fall into a pit or trip over a tree root, neither of which could be seen above the snow. 

   The smaller of the two toms - a dusty brown and white tabby - was carrying a scrawny mouse in his jaws, and was constantly having to jog to keep up with his companion. The larger of the two toms reached the base of a small hill first and turned back to watch the plodding steps of the small tabby. Then they both took their turn disappearing into the side of the hill after the small tom caught up.

   "I don't like hunting in the snow," the small tom mewed once they were both in the darkness of the tunnel, "It's a lot of work, and I only caught one piece of fresh-kill."

   The older tom snorted but continued walking in silence, not bothering to respond. The brown tabby tom assumed his companion hadn't heard him talking through his catch so he didn't say anything the rest of the way, and focused instead on holding his catch firmly.

   In a few moments, the tunnel's mouth widened and then opened up into a larger field-like room with high ceilings, several makeshift dwellings, and a sloping pathway away from the entrance where the returning party stood. Natural light filtered in through several assorted crystal-clear rocks in the ceiling, and cats were milling about below. None paid any attention to the returning toms.

   "Take that mouse to the queens, Thistlepaw," growled the warrior.

   Thistlepaw nodded and while shaking his pelt off veered left down the path toward the hard-packed dirt and twig structure where the queens made their den. Shadestep watched his apprentice squeeze through the entrance and heard excited purrs from the queens before he sighed and shook his head. They'd left at sunrise to go hunting and even after a full day, his apprentice could only manage to catch one mouse. Shadestep kept his head down as he walked right past the fresh-kill pile and straight for the warrior's den. His appetite was wiped out by the worry he felt about his apprentice's training progress. Of course, it wasn't his fault that Thistlepaw had been born late in the year and was just now learning how to hunt in the terrible Leafbare conditions, but it didn't seem as though Thistlepaw were trying very hard at all.

   "It was another rough day, huh?" A sweet voice called to Shadestep as soon as he entered the den. Peachnose was curled up in her nest smiling sweetly. He didn't respond as she continued, "I imagine it wouldn't be easy finding anything out in this weather."

   "It's never easy. It's not easy now, and it wasn't even easy back in Leaf Fall when the prey was still out and about." Shadestep had missed her flirty cue and growled, still not meeting her eye.

   Peachnose was surprised. "But he's learning quickly is he not?" Her eyes searched his face for a hint of sarcasm and found none.

   "Everything is relative." Shadestep scooped some moss into his corner of the den, and curled up on it, facing away from Peachnose to signal to her that their conversation was over. He listened to her frustrated paw-steps stomp out of the warrior's den. 

   It wasn't his fault that her half-brother was so terrible at hunting, and that he was learning slower than any other apprentice in CaveClan history. If Thistlepaw would just try harder, maybe Shadestep would have a better chance at becoming clan deputy one day.


	3. Chapter One

   The morning sunlight warmed up the soft patch of carpet that Mutt was dozing on. When the light withdrew, she stretched each leg slowly and sat up to clean between her toes. Her ears were pricked listening for any sounds of her housefolk milling about in their dwelling, but she heard nothing. A familiar voice called her name just outside the window she'd been dozing under, and her eyes were drawn to it. Effortlessly she leapt up onto the ledge on the window, and had to blink away the blinding light that reflected off of the snow. The cloudless, icy-blue sky was a stark contrast from the white blanket that covered the ground outside of the dwelling. Taller oak trees edged the wooden fence farther in the distance, and old rabbit tracks criss-crossed the yard.

   Mutt's mother was sitting on the wooden platform just outside the cat-flap meowing, "Mutt! You'd better not be in that house!"

   Mutt raced out of the cat-flap, and the brisk air took her breath away for half a second. Immediately Cow stalked up to her, with her tail bristling and her ears flat. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere, and here I find you: outside of the housefolk's dwelling, yet again!"

   "I was just going for a stroll. I didn't go inside!" Mutt defensively replied.

   Cow narrowed her eyes, "Do you think I was born without a nose? I can SMELL that you've been in the house!"

   "The housefolk aren't even home!" Mutt flattened her ears out of pure irritation.

   "You know that you're not supposed to go into the dwelling! You're not a kitten anymore-"

   "You're right. I'm not a kitten anymore, so why are you trying to boss me around like I am one?" Mutt took another step forward, and couldn't control her hackles raising.

   Cow glared at her, "Don't you dare speak to me that way. I am your mother, and I'm supposed to keep you out of the dwelling. Unless you were looking to get chased off of the farm!"

   Mutt didn't respond. Instead she turned her gaze away from her mother, "Just leave me alone."

   "If I'm going to leave you alone then you'd better go and make yourself useful somewhere else. If I find you - or better yet, even SMELL you - around this dwelling one more time, I'll chase you off this farm myself." She hissed threateningly and then padded away still as irritated with her daughter as before.

   ' _ Make yourself useful _ ," Mutt mocked in her head. She scuffed at the ground with her paws as she plodded down the steps of the platform. ' _ A bunch of fox dung! I AM useful. She always catches me when I leave the barn because I'm fed up with the toms that hunt there. I've been hunting all morning _ .' Though Mutt knew that she was lying to herself: chasing mice back into their holes in the back field wasn't the same as hunting.

   It was still before sunhigh, so Mutt crossed the field opposite of the barn toward the lavender bushes. Hanging around catching mice in the barn this early meant trying not to get stepped on by the sheep, and having to listen to the toms bicker amongst themselves. Her mother encouraged being in the barn, because she was convinced that Mutt would fall in love with a tom and have kits of her own. Having kits was the last thing on Mutt's mind, and she didn't want to get stuck living on the farm for any longer than she needed to. All she had to do was survive the winter, and then she was home free - able to go wherever her heart desired.

   Mutt endlessly pined after her future freedom and for a moment she paused to admire the rutted, frozen-mud path that cut through the fields up to the dwelling. Then she thought about how she couldn't wait to trot down that path and disappear forever.

   As she was standing, starry-eyed and focused on the future another familiar voice caught up to her. "Pipsqueak! What are you doing skulking over here?" 

   From out between two lavender bushes devoid of any leaves stepped Masquerade, the black and white tuxedo tom cat from the farm next door. He was thick-furred and muscular, and for a brief second Mutt thought about how much harder mouse hunting must be for the solitary barn cat - her housefolk had tons of cats to rid their barn of mice. ' _ Though he probably enjoys the solitude...I know I would _ .'

   "I was just taking a leisurely morning stroll," Mutt smiled and trotted over to meet him on his side of the path.

   Masquerade knew better than to believe that. "What happened this time? Did you chase another chicken into the dwelling?" He smiled good-naturedly at Mutt as he mentioned what Mutt's mother had chastened her for most recently.

   Mutt blushed and thought to herself, ' _ I should've remembered who I'm talking to _ .'

   "It was worse than that."

   Masquerade sat down, confused, "What could possibly be worse than that?"

   "Oh, I don't know...Napping in the housefolk's dwelling, when I should've been hunting in the barn." She smiled sheepishly as he chuckled. "I wasn't doing anything wrong, and the housefolk weren't even home!"

   Masquerade flicked his bushy tail over his paws, "Don't play mouse-brained with me. You knew perfectly well what you were doing was going to get you into trouble."

   Mutt sat down to his right, "You're right, I guess. But napping is more fun than hunting with a bunch of stuck-up toms!"

   The two cats sat together facing the barn and listening to the wind whistle through the oak trees' leafless branches for a few minutes before Mutt broke the silence. "How long have you lived at the other farm?"

   "I was born there, and I've lived there all my life. Why?" He turned to look at her quizzically, but her mind was still lost in the sky.

   "Do you ever wonder about what else is out there in the world beside farms, housefolk, and catching mice?" Her eyes remained fixated on something that Masquerade couldn't see.

   He mulled over her question for a long moment before he spoke, "I don't think I could ask for anything else, so I don't really think about it, no."

   Mutt turned and looked directly into his eyes - almost defiantly, "When New Leaf comes, I'm leaving and I'm not coming back."

   Masquerade's heart felt like breaking, "But where will you go?"

   "I have no idea. But anywhere would be better than being stuck here forever."

   When she looked at him again, her eyes searched his as she spoke, "Don't tell my mom about this, or I won't ever have the chance to leave. She'll lock me in the barn 'til either I die, or she dies. Whichever comes first."

   Masquerade smiled to lighten the mood, "I wouldn't ever tell anyone your secrets, pipsqueak."

   She smiled back, "Thanks." And then scampered off in the direction she'd been gazing for so long.

   Although Masquerade didn't follow her, he felt uneasy with their conversation, 'She's never talked about leaving before. What more could there be besides hunting mice and barns?' His heart felt heavy and as he made his way back to his farm, his tail drooped and his eyes became cloudy. Nothing meant as much to him as Mutt, and now she was leaving him behind. But what could he possibly do to stop her?


End file.
